Wednesday, July 17, 2019

Huns versus Patrician Romans ADLG Game

Huns advance

Roman cavalry on the right flank with infantry in the centre

Roman force in full

Hun cavalry on the right flank

Hun commander with allied Frank warriors

Hun cavalry on the left flank

Here are photos of a 100 point Huns versus Patrician Romans ADLG game, that Garry and I played down at the club last Sunday afternoon. This was a bit of learning experience for me as I hadn't played the Huns before with these rules. In the end the Romans won fairly easily but we will have to try another game as we got a few things wrong. I'd like to try a game with Simon MacDowall's Comitatus rules too, as they are actually designed for the Barbarian migration period. I think horse archer armies are tricky to use and most rules probably don't really do them justice, however getting the balance right is quite hard to do.

I'm going through much the same process, with Britons vs Saxons and Late Romans vs Goths. I thought AdlG might be the answer, as it is such a tightly written set with so many options, but I haven't been entirely convinced, largely due to the fact that competition sets seem to always downplay the role of reserves versus a decisive first contact all along the line. Comitatus has been in my sights for a while too. Will be interested to hear what you think. I've also considered going the simple route and house-ruling Neil Thomas' AMW.

Yes it's tricky finding a rule set that is satisfactory. For smaller dark age games I really like Dux Bellorum. For bigger games Comitatus might be good. I like ADLG but I'm not interested in comps. Part of the problem is many rule sets cover too larger a period like biblical through the to the War of the Roses.